Quality measures this testing supports
Most of what these assessments produce is documentation a practice is already required to generate. The difference is that it is generated as measurement rather than as attestation.
This describes clinical documentation domains, not specific measure identifiers, which change every performance year. Confirm current specifications with the CMS Quality Payment Program and with the relevant plan. Nothing here is billing guidance.
The domains
| Domain | What the assessment contributes |
|---|---|
| Body mass index screening and follow-up | Height, weight, waist and body composition recorded with a documented follow-up plan attached |
| Blood pressure documentation and control | Seated measurement, plus positional measurement where indicated |
| Diabetes care — glycemic control | Glycemic markers from the laboratory panel, including insulin alongside glucose |
| Diabetes care — foot examination | Objective sudomotor and vascular foot data rather than an inspection note |
| Diabetes care — nephropathy | Renal markers from the laboratory panel |
| Tobacco use screening and intervention | Recorded at intake, and clinically load-bearing because smoking is the strongest single association with peripheral artery disease |
| Falls risk assessment and plan of care | Vestibular, oculomotor, orthostatic and peripheral sensory measurement rather than a recall question |
| Cognitive assessment | A structured screening instrument with a recorded, comparable baseline |
| Medication reconciliation | A complete medication and supplement list is a precondition for interpreting the testing, so it happens anyway |
Why measurement beats attestation
A domain satisfied by a checkbox and a domain satisfied by a recorded instrument reading count the same and are not the same thing. The second is auditable, comparable year over year, and produces a number the patient can be shown. As programs move toward outcome measurement, building the habit on measured data is the durable choice.
The falls domain is the clearest example
The conventional screening question is whether the patient has fallen in the past year. It depends entirely on recall and on willingness to admit it. The measured alternative does not: in a national survey, 35.4% of US adults aged 40 and older had vestibular dysfunction detectable on a simple standing-balance test, and symptomatic individuals carried twelve times the odds of falling. Falls remain the leading cause of injury death after 65, with 38,742 unintentional fall deaths recorded in 2021.
Making the data usable
Three habits: record the conditions of measurement alongside the numbers, use the same instrument and technique every time, and capture a short fixed set of values discretely rather than only as a filed document. Getting results into the chart.
References
- Agrawal Y, Carey JP, Della Santina CC, Schubert MC, Minor LB. Disorders of balance and vestibular function in US adults: data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2001–2004. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2009;169(10):938–944. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2009.66
- Kakara R, Bergen G, Burns E, Stevens M. Nonfatal and Fatal Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years — United States, 2020–2021. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2023;72(35):938–943. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7235a1
Related reading
Medically reviewed by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP, medical director of Measura. Last reviewed .